So glad we post around here without sarcasm.

Why in the world would we close the season with an OOC game that is not a rivarly game? I mean I get why ECU is doing it, but seriously ECU on rivarly weekend. Why give them the satisfaction.

I like this.

The gameday atmosphere will be more spirited than if we had scheduled BC for rivalry week. With recruits present at practically every home game, it's better to have the image of a festive environment burned into the memories of these prospects.

Love it, packed stadium on thxgiving. Love beating them. It is def a rivalry

I understand that many State Fans consider this a trap game. I have mixed feelings about it, especially since it is rivalry week, but overall I'm just happy we aren't playing another South Alabama type school. Wait, we aren't playing South Alabama again, are we???

A shame. If you're going to do OOC and want festive, schedule any of the following: South Carolina, Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma etc.

Redcanine, That is the issue. The good teams already have a date for that dance. So we are forced to take our cousin.

We weren't going to get those games in this slot. So yea, it sure as hell playing the directional schools for the blind. I will take it.

The last thing we need to do is give this pointless game we should never, ever play any more "relevance" in the eyes of the EZU media boosters.

It will be "festive" only in that there will be thousands of purple clad hillbillies in the stands to cheer on the road team. Why anyone would find that (along with the chance to lose to a C-USA team playing their Super Bowl) good for recruiting is beyond me.

This absolutely drags our program down another notch when we are close enough to the damned gutter already.

"A shame. If you're going to do OOC and want festive, schedule any of the following: South Carolina, Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma etc."

One of those will never happen until Clemmons is nuked!

A C-USA team is never a worthy opponent. The fact that a 6-6 ECU team beat State several years ago says way more bad about State's FB program than it says good about ECU.

However, no one (except ND) plays only I-A schools. Everyone plays teams that don't require a return visit and this is frequently a I-AA school or two. Personally, I would rather play ECU than a I-AA school. But I would NEVER schedule a home and home with ECU. 2-1 or better yet 3-1 would be acceptable.

When I was in school, the ECU game was one of the two most important games on the schedule. Of course, the dorm parties after the game were the real priority and not some stupid pigskin.

I actually enjoyed the first few games before it got ugly. Sat right in the midst of the ECU students while dating one and whooped it up as State kicked Crumpler, Sr's team's butt!

I was half kidding when I wrote this. I actually like playing ECU... so long as we beat them. I overlooked that this is rivalry weekend so that makes it more interesting.

If you're going to do OOC and want festive, schedule any of the following: South Carolina, Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma etc.

I would never put "festive" and "South Carolina fans" in the same sentence, at least in my own mind. They come in holier-than-thou, as if they are too good to stoop down to playing in our "tiny little stadium" (one said that to me last year) and then if you beat them, they stomp around howling how the referees screwed them, how we cheated, how they're still better and if you don't like it, they'd be happy to start a fight.

There's team spirit and then there are the Gamecocks, and if I never see them in Carter-Finley ever again for the rest of my life, that's just fine by me.

I have no problem with playing ECU.

I do find it amusing, however, that State fans often act towards ECU and its fans the same way Carolina fans act towards NC State.

Just don't get all the negative comments around playing ECU. I'd rather play an ECU team than have a meaningless 1-AA cupcake. Its almost like we are mentally beat before the game is played. We should welcome the opportunity to beat up on an in state Div 1 team like ECU....and if we can't go into this game with confidence then our program is more to worry about than the opposing team. Really like the date too as when most families are together anyway for T Day, specially as my brother and his family are all Pirate grads and will be in town.
Don't fear the game....

Its like worrying who is fishing in the same big tournament you are, it don't matter if there are 11 Kevin Van Dams in it or 11 Joe Lunch Box Angler, if you don't catch your fish... it don't matter! In other words, if we are where we should be with our football program, then fear no in state team or game. And for the record, Kevin Van Dam or KVD, is to professional bass fishing what Tiger Woods was to golf, the most dominate player in the game.

If we caused drunken riots and destroyed the Holes' stadium TWICE (including once when we were guests following hurricane damage to usual home stadium), then we would deserve to be treated like crap. I give EZU exactly the amount of respect they deserve. In fact, the Holes and EZU have lots of Wal-Mart-iness in common. Shouldn't surprise you that 80% of Pie-rat Nation are also Wal-Mart Hole fans in basketball. And most of the remainder are newbies to the Duke Wal-Mart bandwagon. So there you go - essentially Wal-Mart Hole fans, just even less likely to have college degrees, and much more likely to start a drunken riot.

I have said it many times before, but I will recite it again:

1) NC State gains NO benefit from beating EZU. Won't impress a single recruit, won't get us an iota of media coverage outside the local paper.

2) There is a much better chance of losing to EZU than another C-USA/MAC/Sun Belt team. It is their Super Bowl, and they will fill the stands, home or away. Therefore, you are maximizing risk and minimizing reward, as weighed against the opportunity cost of playing a similar caliber opponent (why I am happy to play a Central Michigan, UAB, etc.).

3) Legitimizing EZU allows them to recruit better, further shrinking the available "fallback option" recruiting pool for NC State. Again, dumb as shite.

4) There are multiple reasons why the stupidity triples playing them at the end of the season. More Wolfpackers travel then. If we are having a bad season (as is 99% likely), there will be even less interest. So, instead of 15-20% purple hillbillies in the stands, you will get 25-30%. Yes, that will really make us look great on ESPN3. Which leads to another bit of idiocy - we have now GUARANTEED that our final game of the season won't get any "real" TV coverage. Talk about bush league. Yes, it's POSSIBLE that the same would happen for a conference game - but it takes a perfect storm, like last year against a putrid BC squad. There is precedent for this - think back to the last time we closed the season with EZU - we were in Amato's death throes, playing out the string in an awful season. Pirate flags all over the stadium. Probably majority EZU for that game. That was pre-ESPN3 (at least in terms of saturation coverage), so it was radio only. Great way to finish the season, especially if hosting recruits.

5) Find ANY other BCS-level school who does the same thing. The next time you see, say Tennessee closing with Memphis, Wake Forest closing with App, Texas Tech closing with SMU, Miami closing with Florida Atlantic, Boston College closing with UMass, West Virginia closing with Marshall, Northwestern closing with Northern Illinois...let me know. It will be the first. None of those schools - none of which can be described as powers - would even consider doing such a thing.

In closing...if you think NC State should embrace being a secondary, regional football program...then yes, closing with EZU, and playing them as much as possible is a fantastic idea. If, however, you think we should at least TRY to be more relevant than that...I think you should see my point.

Sorry folks, we aint s4it yet anyway, so who cares. Now in 4 years if DD has us looking like ACC contenders then I will bitch about this game. Til then I'm just happy if we don't play 2 FCS schools in one season.

Debbie agrees with you and isn't looking to schedule this game in the future. This is still a hold over from when Uncle Jed was carrying Terry Holland's water for anything that Terry wanted. It was all about Jed's desire to enhance himself in the eyes of others -- nothing to do with what is best for NC State.

Yes, I hate the bastards. But beating them does nothing for me. For a rivalry, the wins have to feel good, not just the losses to be infuriating.

SF - thanks for sharing DY's thinking. Makes me feel much better about the future. And yes, if SF is saying that...it is not mere conjecture.

I like playing this game....

i'm not doing flips over this game either, but Bama or tOSU are not running out of that tunnel this season. The thing we need to do is embrace beating them and beating them soundly. If we don't win, it shows we have a long way to go.

ECU should be a solid team in 2013 with ten starters returning on offense and nine on defense, plus a new defensive coordinator (who can't be any worse than Brian Mitchell was). ECU will probably be a better team than some of the lower BCS AQ conference teams that we could play instead, plus the stadium will be full, which is huge for a Thanksgiving weekend game. While you may not like the opponent, the match-up from a strength perspective is beneficial for State, at least for this season.

In regards to the series and playing in Greenville, I think it's actually a good thing for State. With as many players as State recruits from down east, the opportunity for those players to take a quick trip to see the Pack play (and see how well the fan base travels with the road support) certainly isn't a bad thing.

Terrible idea to play ECU - especially at the end of season during 'rivalry week'. Very little positive comes from this game. I am relieved to hear that this is a holdover from the Jed era. I'm sure DY/DD will go a different direction with scheduling in the future.

At some point we gotta stop running scared. Half of us are predicting losing records and the other half won't be surprised if we have one. Why NOT close out with a full stadium and a chance to end the season with a win over ECTC? (That's East Carolina Teachers College for you youngums.) If DD lets 'em come out flat and flounder around, he's no better than any of the previous coaches we dismissed.

Yes its a rivalry (probably after UNC-chapel hill, Duke, and Wake). It is also an absolutely must win for us to save face. If we don't win - especially at home - then we are a terrible team and deserve to have it shoved in our face. But the best part of it to me will be that ECU could possibly be anywhere between 9-1 and 7-3 coming into that game and we will most likely be a mediocre 6-4, and yet we will still stomp them like a big brother is supposed to.

Deacon, what's with you giving ECU's ultimate frisbee props? They haven't been any good since the the mid 90's.

When EZU has ANY long term athletic success they can complain about being looked down on by NC State. You're not in the ACC or a co-flagship university of this state and for sure not a rival. You don't compare academically or athletically though at times a decent football product has been put on the field. When you hang NC banners in any D1 sport let us know. You BETTER get fired up for your superbowl because you won't have many. Letting you into Carter-Finley should make you feel good...about as much as it should South Alabama or Richmond.

If the facts are hatred & bias then tough. Deal with the facts.

My problem with playing them has nothing to do with the level of their program(s). Yes, overall they might be a step down, though I do agree that in FB their program shouldn't be necessarily dismissed.

Nope, my problem with playing them is... a) Despite a handful of their alumni I've met over the years seeming like decent folk, the majority of them don't seem to be able to act like normal human beings when grouped together and all liquored up and should never be allowed to set foot in our stadium again EVER, and... b) I don't appreciate that the state legislature stepped in in the past and mandated games with them.

I also dislike the game being played this particular weekend, but that's beside the point.

I don't like that our school (and Carolina too) was held hostage and forced to play them when the reasons for NOT playing them were valid (see "a" above).

They can all bite me (aside from those few who seem to be able to behave themselves when sober and not in a purple scrum).

Whaa...whaa..whaa

I played 'em everywhere in multiples, and I' d play 'em again, anytime, anywhere.

I haven't bought y'alls negative take from day one, on the Pirates.

Buncha pussies. Kinda like it'll be when Syracuse and Pittsburgh come to town, to stay.

Serious...buck up, or keep begging for release to the SEC, and learn to love cowbells from Starkville, as they kick our ass. Or the Ivy of Tennessee..or the real Tennessee for that matter.

I like ECU. A lot. Well...maybe not a whole lot, but I'll be damned if I don't respect the guys I played against, and fish with, and bbq with, and...and, drink with.

Help me out. Who should we play instead?

You been hanging out with my ECU buds?

LOL. Not to mention she's not much of a looker. And has terrible manners.

Are you shittin' me Wuf? I know that guy...er gal. That's Havelock Hal ! Played tight end with us for about 3 weeks. Transfer from Chowan. Left us in camp back in '73. Someone said that the family oyster beds were goin' south, and he just vanished...puff.

Others claimed steroids got the best of him. Looks like estrogen to me, though.

Look, State has never had a rivalry week, as far as the ESPN rivalry week goes. Whoop dee do.

Plenty of us treat every game as one.

' Cept FCS nonsense, of course.

Hal apparently parlayed his endocrine challenges into a brief acting career....here's the rest of the story.

Behavior works, but I guess she actually looks more like a Duke cheerleader.